John Hood Summey ’62 and his late wife, Edith (Edie) Shuford Summey ’62, always put great value on education and international travel, and the learning that comes from travel. That mindset led them to create and endow two separate funds within Honors Carolina which will support undergraduate students at UNC for years to come.
The Summeys hope that recipients of their scholarship will value their education, become loyal alumni, and perhaps someday establish scholarship programs of their own!
More about the Summeys
John and Edie were blessed to have had the opportunity to become very educated, John with a Ph.D. in marketing and Edie with an Ed.D. in art education. They believed that a university education provides students with the knowledge and skills required to become self-dependent persons.
They grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, and both attended UNC, graduating in 1962. Edie spent two years at Duke before transferring to UNC, since – at that time – women were not allowed at UNC until they were juniors.
After graduation, John spent time in Arizona as an officer in the Air Force and Edie started a graduate program in art education. Following his Air Force service, John completed his MBA and Ph.D. in marketing and Edie her master’s degree and Ed.D. in art education, both from Arizona State University. Both served as teachers at the university level.
Additional information about John and Edie’s story can be found in this article published in the Carolina Arts & Sciences magazine.

How to Apply
The Summey Scholarship provides selected undergraduate students with funding the costs of the Honors summer study abroad program in addition to eight days of further travel and enrichment activities in a destination of their choice.
Each student must first identify a topic or area they are passionate about and would like to learn about. This topic should relate to the subject of the Honors abroad program, but the location can be anywhere in the region of study (so long as the country is a level 1 or 2 according to the US Department of State travel advisory).
Applicants must put together a comprehensive proposal and budget for their week of additional travel. View a sample budget and itinerary here.
To apply, students must begin an application for their desired Honors summer study abroad program and indicate an interest in receiving scholarship funds to support their study abroad experience. Once a program application is started, students will receive an email linking to the Summey Scholarship application.
Questions about the Summey Scholarship can be directed to HonorsBurch@unc.edu.